Rolling mill



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ROLLING MILL Filed Sept. 2, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 i li M nited StatesPatent ROLLING MILL Franz Platzer, Leoben, Styria, Austria ApplicationSeptember 2, 1954, Serial No. 453,741

Claims priority, application Germany September 18, 1953 9 Claims. (CI.80-38) The present invention relates to the art of rolling stock, moreparticularly metallic stock.

The invention is particularly directed to such an installation whichincludes at least one pair of working or shaping rollers which duringthe rolling operation roll along the stock to be rolled and during suchoperation are supported by intermediate or backing rollers which latterduring contact of the working or shaping rollers with the stock roll onstationary tracks.

The invention is particularly directed to such an arrangement in whichthe intermediate or backing rollers, during contact of the workingrollers with the stock, roll on guide tracks or surfaces having portionsinitially converging, subsequently parallel and then diverging inrelation to the direction of feed of the stock.

in accordance with the present invention, the rolling installationprovides for continuous rolling and during which process the working andintermediate rollers are connected with driving means guided aboutstationary endless tracks, and while the working rollers effect theshaping of the stock thecentral axes of these rollers and theintermediate rollers lie in a common plane perpendicular to thedirection of rolling. From another aspect the distance betweensuccessive shaping rollers is greater than the shaping distance lyingbetween them.

The present invention has for an object to provide an apparatus forrolling stock in which the above mentioned characteristics are attainedwhile avoiding the conventional large and expensive roller journals,thus providing an installation which as demonstrated by tests provides aparticular etficient and safe rolling operation.

The invention substantially consists in a rolling installation orarrangement in which rigid roller cages are journalled for rotationabout stationary roller supporting members and which cages carry theshaping and intermediate rollers which rollers are mounted or arrangedin pairs.

The mounting of the rollers is such that the pairs of shaping andworking rollers swing relative to one another.

The invention provides an arrangement in which the shaping rollers canbe pivoted by means of levers to the roller cages and can be connectedthrough a linkage of the four links or quadrangular type with theintermediate rollers and also with a control lever which includes aroller that is spring pressed against a curvi-linear control path.

As a further aspect of the invention the shaping and intermediaterollers can be journalled with their trunnions in housings which areslidable in guides with spring means incorporated between the housingand guides and in which arrangement the guides are journalled in rollercages and include trunnions having planetary gears thereon in mesh withcontrol wheels or gears rotatably mounted on the roller cages.

Further and more specific objects will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the ac- Well as diverging trackportions.

Patented June '7, 1955 ice companying drawings illustrating twoembodiments of the invention, and in which:

Figure l is an end view partly in section and partly in elevation of oneform of a rolling installation;

Figure 2 is a sectional View taken on lines II-lI of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale showing certaincomponents of the roller mountings in detail;

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken on lines lVlV of Figure l;

Figure 5 is a view on an enlarged scale illustrating a detail of Figure2;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevationtaken on lines VI-VI of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevationtaken on lines VIIVII of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure l but illustrating a modified formof rolling installation;

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on lines IX-IX of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a view on an enlarged scale and partly in sectionillustrating a detail of Figure 9 and taken on lines XX of Figure 11;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly inelevation and taken on lines XIXI of Figure 10; and

Figure 12 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly inelevation of the details illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, and includinga showing of the drive mechanism.

With particular reference to the embodiment of Figures 1-7, the rollinginstallation includes roller standards 32 and 33 between which arefixedly supported in superimposed relationship stationary, roller shapedsupporting members. These supporting members 20, 21 are engaged byuniformly spaced angularly related intermediate rollers 25 and 26. Therollers 25 engage supporting member 26 and rollers 26 engage supportingmember 21. During the rolling operation the intermediate rollers areguided together with the shaping rollers 16 and 17 for movement aboutthe supporting members in the direction of arrow 18.

On the portions of the supporting members facing one another areinserted guide pieces 23 and 24 preferably constructed of a materialthat is highly resistant to wear. These guide pieces include surfacesforming converging track surfaces 23, 24', and portions providingparallel surfaces 23 and 24". The peripheral surface of the supportingmembers extends laterally on both sides of the guide pieces beyond thecircular path of said members so that the peripheral surface formsconverging as This is clear from Figure 2.

As shown in Figure l the supporting members are stepped down or reducedbetween the respective standards and the portions contacted by therollers 25 and 26. Roller cages 34 and 35 are mounted for rotation onone of these stepped down or reduced portions of the respectivesupporting members. These cages are driven as set forth hereinafter andthe shaping rollers 16, 17 are respectively pivotally mounted to thecages by levers 36 and 37. The levers 36 and 37 are fixed to bushings 38which in turn are journalled in apertures in the respective roller cages34 and 35. Rods 39 extend through the bushings 38 carried by the rollercage 34 and rods or pins 40 extend through the bushings 38 carried bythe roller cage 35. At the ends facing the supporting members 2th and21, the rods or pins 39 and 40 have respectively rigidly connectedtherewith levers 41 and 42. These levers are respectively connected bystraps 43 and 44 with supporting trunnions 45, 46 of the intermediaterollers 25, 26 by means of bolts 47 and 48. This arrangement results ina four-link or quadrangular linkage constituted by the central axes ofthe rollers and of the pins or bolts 39 and 4t and 47, 48, together withthe levers and strap members connecting them, see Figure 5.

In order that during shaping or rolling the central axes of the rollerslie in a common plane perpendicular to the rolling direction, thelinkage arrangements are moved about pins 39 and 49 shortly before theintermediate rollers roll onto the converging track sections and theperpendicular relationship of the pairs of rollers is main tained inadaptation to the shape of the respective track sections up to themoment when the intermediate rollers roll off from the parallel tracksections or portions. This movement and control of the pairs of rollersis brought about by control levers 49 and 5t! splined respectively ontothe ends of pins or bolts 59 and it On the ends of these control leversare journalled rollers Slt and under the influence of spiraled springs52, 53 the respective control levers 49 and are spring urged in suchdirection that the rollers follow curvi-linear control paths 5 s and 55.These control paths are provided by internal stationary cams. Thesprings 52, 53 act between the bushings 38 and thereby levers 36 or 37respectively and shaping rollers 16 or 17 on the one hand, and thecontrol lever 49 or 50 on the other hand, so that in addition to thefact that the rollers 51 are held against the cams the shaping rollersare constantly urged by the springs 52 or 53 against the respectivesupporting members.

In order to adjust the roller gap and thereby the final thickness of thestock the lower supporting member 21 is provided with a guide element 56adapted to be raised and lowered toward or away from the supportingmember 29. The guide element 56 carries the inserted guide piece 24 andcan be adjusted by means of wedges 5'7 and 53 that are respectivelydisplaceahle in opposite directions by means of screw spindles 59, at sothat the guide element 56 can be adjusted to different heights. Ifdesired, a similar structure including a movable guide element mountedfor movement toward and away from the lower supporting member can beincorporated in the upper supporting member.

The roller cages 34 and 35 are respectively provided at theirperipheries with ring gears 61, 62 which are in mesh with each other inorder to obtain synchronous rotation. The gear rings and thus the cagesare driven by pinions 63 fixed to shaft 64.

The stock to be rolled is fed forwardly by a pair of driving rollers 65,66 with the feed being in such manner that the advance always occurs atthe moment when the intermediate rollers have rolled off the paralleltrack por- Y rollers engage the stock. Thus at any one period only onepair of working rollers is engaged in shaping. The drive for the rollercages and the drive for the feed rollers are derived from the samedriving mechanism, not shown.

In the embodiment shown in the Figures 8 to 12 the control of theshaping and intermediate rollers is effected by means of planetarygearing. More particularly these rollers are constantly guided to suchrelative positions that the central axes of all coacting, shaping andintermediate rollers lie in a common plane perpendicular to thedirection of rolling. Also in this form of the invention the spacing ofsuccessive rollers is longer than the shaping distance between them. Inthis modification the shaping rollers a7, 68 and their respectivecooperating intermo diate or backing rollers 69 and 79 have theirtrunnions journalled respectively in housings '71, 72. The respectivepairs of shaping or working rollers and intermediate rollers are mountedwith their housings in a common body 73, 73:! extending rem one side tothe other of the rolling installation, which body at its opposite endsforms guides 74, 75. In these guides the housings 71, 72 are shapingdistance.

slidable and urged apart by springs 76. The guides 74, 75 arerespectively provided with trunnions 77, 78 which are rotatably mountedin roller cages 79 and S0. The roller cages 79 and 80 are journalled onreduced portions of the stationary supporting members 92, 93. At oneside of the installation the trunnions 77, 78 are elongated and extendbeyond their journalling apertures in the cages and have splined thereonplanetary gears 81 and 3?; respectively. These gears are respectively inmesh with control wheels 83 and 84 which in turn are journalled on theroller cages 79, 80. On both sides of the respective roller cages aresplined ring gears 85 and 86 and which ring gears have the same pitchcircle diameter as control wheels 83 and 84 that are mounted between thering gears and the planetary gears 81, 82.

During a rotation of the roller cages 79 and 80 the guides 74, 75together with the shaping and intermediate rollers must be turned backby 360 in order to maintain their position in space in which the centralaxes of each pair of shaping and intermediate rollers lie in a commonvertical plane. In order to achieve this result the drive for thecontrol Wheels 83, 84 and gear rings 85, 86 are so constructed that thecontrol wheels have a higher rotational speed corresponding to arotation of the planetary gears with a rotation of the gear rings.

In Figure 9 the pitch circles of driving gears 87 to are drawn in at theplace where they are arranged in the installation whereas in Figure 12these gears are diagrammatically illustrated in dot-dash lines at aplace offset from their actual location for the purposes of clarity.Since the gear rings 85 and the control wheel 83 of the upper half ofthe installation mesh with the gear rings 86 and the control wheel 84 ofthe lower half of the installation a completely uniform rotation of theaxes of the shaping and intermediate rollers is assured. The gear 87meshes with gear ring 86. The gear 87 is driven by pinion 88 whichtogether with pinion 90 is fixed on a common drive shaft 91. Drivepinion 90 meshes with an intermediate gear 89 which in turn meshes withcontrol wheel 84. The transmission ratio of the gear pairs 87, 83 and $9and 9d are so selected that for the purpose of turning back the guides74 and 75 and thereby the shaping and intermediate rollers, theplanetary gears 81, 82 with one rotation of the roller cages carry outan additional rotation by 360.

The construction of the rolling apparatus in this modification otherwiseconforms to that of the first embodiment insofar as the general featuresare concerned. The supporting members 92 and 93 are stationary elementshaving a vertically elongated cross section. The intermediate rollers 69and 70 abut guide elements 94 and 95 inserted into the supportingmembers in advance of the shaping distance and leave these guideelements shortly after the The arrangement can also be carried out sothat the shaping rollers first engage the stock and immediatelythereafter the intermediate rollers run up onto the guide pieces 94, 95.During the passage through the shaping distance the shaping rollers inrolling off the stock press the intermediate rollers due to the start ofthe rolling process in the direction toward the guide pieces 94, 95.

As already mentioned the spacing of successive working rollers isgreater than the shaping distance between them or, in other words,greater than the length of the deformation surface on the material to berolled. Consequently during the rolling operation a pair of workingrollers will come out of engagement while the successive pair of Workingrollers have not yet reached the material. This is the position forfeeding the material taking place in steps.

The housings 71, 72, in which are journalled the rollers 67 to 7% areslidable in the guides 74, 75 provided in the ends of the common body73, 73a extending across the space between the cages 79 and 80. Springs76 are arranged on both sides of the housings and between abutments ofthe housings on the one hand and of the guides on the other hand. Bythis arrangement the springs have the tendency to hold the intermediaterollers 69, 70 in contact with the guide elements 94, 95, see Figures 9and 10.

In the following the movement of the quadrangular linkage as appearingin Figure will be explained in detail. As shown in Figure 2 the centralaxes of each pair of rollers 16, 25 and 17, 26 lie in a radial planewith respect to the central axes of the supporting members 20 or 21,when surrounding the circular surface of said members. During theshaping or rolling period the central axes of two pairs of rollers lyingbetween the guide pieces 23, 24 must lie in a common plane perpendicularto the rolling direction, see Figure 2. Consequently each pair ofrollers entering the space between the guide pieces must be turned atfirst in counter-clockwise direction and then after passing the verticalcentre line of the guide pieces has to be turned in clockwise direction.These turning movements are executed by the quadrangular linkage.Shortly before the intermediate roller 26 (see Figures 4 and 5) rollsonto the converging track portion 24 the journalled roller 51 followingthe curvi-linear control path 55 by the influence of the spiral spring53 will move outwardly so that the control lever 50 and the lever 42rigidly connected with said control lever are turned in counterclockwisedirection and the strap 44 with the roller 26 is moved to the right. Assoon as the roller 51 reaches that part of the control path 55 runninginwardly the aforesaid movements will take place in opposite sense.

The installations aforedescribed are adapted for hot as well as coldrolling of bands and with the corresponding shape of the working rollersthe installations can be adapted for rolling profile and round rods.

What I claim is:

1. An installation for rolling material especially metallic materialincluding superposed spaced stationary guide means between whichmaterial to be rolled passes, a rigid roller cage means rotatablymounted on each guide means, roller means carried by each cage meansincluding working rollers for rolling the material and intermediaterollers, said rollers being mounted in pairs and swingable relative toone another and each pair including a Working roller and an intermediateroller.

2. An installation for rolling material especially metallic material asclaimed in claim 1 in which levers pivotally connect the working rollersto the roller cage means, a control lever for each pair of rollers,linkage means connecting the Working roller of each pair to theassociated intermediate roller and control lever, means defining acurvi-linear control path determining the position of the pairs ofrollers relative to the material as it passes between and in contactwith the working rollers and spring urged follower means carried by thelevers for maintaining the same in contact with the means defining thecontrol path.

3. An installation for rolling material especially metallic material asclaimed in claim 1 in which the ends of the working and intermediaterollers include trunnions, a housing means journalling the trunnions ofeach associated pair of rollers, a mounting body common to eachassociated pair of rollers and extending from one side of theinstallation to the other, and including guides at its opposite ends,said housing means being slidable in the guides, spring means biasedbetween the guides and the housing means and operative to urge thehousings away from the rolling path, the mounting bodies includingexternal trunnions at at least one end and journalled in the roller cagemeans, planetary gears secured to the last mentioned trunnions anddrivable control gears rotatably mounted on each roller cage means andmeshing with said planetary gears.

4. An installation for rolling material especially metallic material asclaimed in claim 3 in which the central median axis of each roller ofeach pair of rollers lies in a common plane perpendicular to thedirection of rolling during rotation of the roller cage means, ringgears fastened on the roller cage means, the said controlled gearshaving the same pitch center diameter as the ring gears and a drivingmechanism connected to the control gears and the ring gears and having atransmission ratio such that in order to turn back the planetary gearsand thus the mounting bodies, the guides, the housings and thereby thepairs of rollers, the planetary gears with each rotation of the rollercage means effect an additional rotation of 360.

5. An installation for rolling material especially metallic material asclaimed in claim 1 in which at least one of the stationary guide meansincludes a movable guide element facing a space between the guide meansand means for raising and lowering the said element for adjusting theroller gap.

6. In an apparatus for rolling metallic stock, spaced standards,superposed stationary guide means supported between the standards inspaced relation relative to one another, said guide means includingfacing surfaces defining track portions which with reference to thedirection of movement of stock between the said guide means includesuccessive converging parallel and diverging surfaces, roller cage meansjournalled on each stationary guide means, uniformly spaced pairs ofrollers carried by each roller cage means and each pair including aworking roller for engaging the metallic stock to be rolled and anintermediate roller for engaging the track surfaces, means mounting thepairs of rollers for swinging movement relative to one another, controlmeans determining the position of the pairs of rollers responsive torotation of the roller cage means and operative to dispose the rollersof each pair with their axes in a common plane perpendicular to thedirection of rolling at least during the interval when the intermediateroller engages the converging and parallel track surfaces and means forsynchronously rotating the cage means whereby the successive workingrollers of each pair associated with one of the guide means cooperatewith the successive working rollers of each pair associated with theother guide means to effect rolling of the stock.

7. In an apparatus for rolling metallic stock as claimed in claim 6 inwhich the control means includes a stationary internal cam surroundingthe axis of the roller cage means, lever means connecting the workingroller of each pair to the roller cage means and pivotally mountedrelative to the cage means, said control means further including acontrol lever for each pair of rollers, quadrangular linkage meansconnected between the control lever and the rollers of each pair, eachsaid control lever including a roller engaging the cam means and meansbiasing the lever and thus the roller against the cam so that responsiveto the rotation of the roller cage means the control lever follows thepath determined by the shape of the cam.

8. In an apparatus for rolling metallic stock, spaced standards,superposed stationary guide means supported between the standards inspaced relation relative to one another, said guide means includingfacing surfaces defining track portions which with reference to thedirection of movement of stock between the said guide means includetrack surfaces approaching and then receding from the median planebetwen the guide means, roller cage means journalled on each stationaryguide means, uniformly spaced pairs of rollers carried by each rollercage means and each pair including a working roller for engaging themetallic stock to be rolled and an intermediate roller for engaging thetrack surfaces, means for synchronously rotating the roller cage meansand means for controlling a position of the pairs of rollers duringrotation of the cage means so that the central axis of each roller ofeach pair lies in a common plane perpendicular to the direction ofrolling at least during contact with the metallic stock wherebysuccessive working rollers of each pair carried by one cage meanscooperate with successive working rollers of each pair carried by theother cage means to effect rolling with the intermediate roller of eachsuccessive pair engaging the track surfaces during rolling.

9. In an apparatus for rolling metallic stock as claimed in claim 8 inwhich each pair of rollers is swingably mounted relative to the cagemeans and the control means includes gearing for swinging the pairs ofrollers during rotation of the cage means to maintain the central medianaxis of each roller of each pair in a common plane perpendicular to thedirection of rolling during rotation of the cage means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSReinhard Apr. 18, 1911 Nowak Apr. 23, 1912 Stiefel Mar. 29, 1927 MeadOct. 10, 1933 Oifutt Aug. 28, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July11, 1951

